Creating bespoke wedding stationery and other handcrafted loveliness

Category: Decoration

Last week I posted about our Wedding Stationery, so today’s post is all about our wedding details; a good example of what ‘other handcrafted loveliness’ may include.

We feel extremely lucky to have had our wedding weekend at beautiful Chaucer Barn. The barn and the grounds are so stunning there really isn’t much of a need to add extra details…but for me, that’s the fun bit! What I loved most about our venue is that we could do pretty much whatever we wanted, it was a blank canvas and a chance for us to add our personal touch. Because of this, my head was swimming with ideas (thanks pinterest!) so my issue was learning how to edit these and realise what’s manageable…and here’s the outcome.

Inside The Venue

We kept it rather simple inside by adding twinkly lights to the banister and adorning this with some of the millions (it felt like millions) of pompoms that had been fluffed. In the lounge we created a backdrop made from colourful streamers, added some more pompoms and left a box of silly dressing up gear for guests to enjoy.

Outside

In the run up to the wedding I had been hoarding glass jars and bottles which were to be used as vases. My lovely Dad had the task of scrubbing off all the labels one afternoon and he did a stellar job. After adding some ribbon and flowers they looked gorgeous. We made enough for all our tables, the seating plan step ladders and to tie onto the chairs along the aisle.

I made a couple of signs to stand outside Chaucer Barn alongside the road so that guests knew where we were. Inside the grounds, on easels, I also made a who’s who board of the bridal party and a rough schedule of the day. There was also a ‘Croak & Growl Announcement’ note to give to guests explaining how the duo ceremony would work. Sadly, these were never given out due to the rain and initiating plan B, to have the ceremony inside (and it was wonderful).

After our ceremony we all enjoyed a jam jar (or two) of Pimms and we added our little touch by way of the label saying ‘CHIN!’…this is my version of cheers!

The Marquee

Most of our little details were to be found inside the Marquee. As an alternative to bunting we created felt, plush hearts which we strung up around the space and finished it off by adding some more of the lovely pompoms to the pillars and I thought it looked so lovely, I smile every time I think about it.

We were delighted to have Pandora’s Kitchen as our caterers and they created a delicious rustic picnic for us. I thought it would be so pretty to make our own picnic boxes where we would share one between two and my brilliant father in law built every single one! This was a labour of love which involved a lot of sanding and a lot of painting but I think they are beautiful. Alongside the boxes, I whipped up some simple menus explaining what’s in the box. We also made these gorgeous, floral, cotton blankets to cover the goodies inside but on the day we completely forgot to add them, whoops!

For the favours I spent a lot of time thinking of ways to make them personal to Lewie and I. For the guys, we made and bottled our own beer; Hoppy Bear! I designed some labels for them and I think they went down a treat! For the gals, I illustrated three recipe cards from the heart of my Mum’s kitchen and wrapped them up in a bow. The kids were given cute little pots of chocolate and bubbles alongside an activity pack I created. There were twelve pages in total and each one were packed full of fun things to keep them occupied during the picnic. These were a hit and I’m planning to sell them on Etsy shortly.

Lewis and I also designed a treasure hunt for the little monkeys! We made a map, plotted some clues and the adventure took them all around the grounds, ending up in the half-moon wood where they discovered a pinata full of marshmallows! Sadly, we don’t have any pictures but they had an awesome time.

Even the teeny tiny handmade details were considered, from all the different labels to the wooden name place holders; a fun hour in a shed wielding a saw was had!

Lastly, in the marquee, I can’t forget to mention the tasty and beautiful cake table! Many of my lovely friends and family made something delicious to be added and I baked the wedding cake. It was loads of fun sculpting and painting the little Frog & Bear toppers too. All together I think it looked a treat!

Gifts

I had the most wonderful bridesmaids by my side and to thank them, part of their gift included a floral, cotton robe to get ready in (thanks Etsy!). I packaged them in cute little tote bags where I ironed on my designs. I was thrilled with the result and I have a plan to create these little beauties and sell them online.

Phew! I think that’s pretty much all the details covered…and I had more ideas on my ‘Wedding Wall’ but I had to stop somewhere. I LOVED putting all of this together and I feel that each detail expressed Lewie and I and the feel we wanted to create.

Before I sign off, I must mention that all of this wouldn’t have happened without the help from my awesome friends and family. THANK YOU to those of you who painted picnic boxes, cut things out, sewed together hearts, made covers, scraped off jam jar labels, iced the wedding cake, helped decorate the venue and fluffed their pompom hearts out! You bunch are amazing; my dream team!

Friday night was pompom fluffing galore!

Our dance area and due to rain our lovely ceremony room.

Outdoor signage for guests to find their way.

The who’s who board.

Schedule of the day.

A little note of how the duo ceremony will work; sadly these were never needed because of the weather.

Left over flowers ribboned and ready to go.

Beautiful peonies to lead the way down the aisle…shame it rained.

Ribboned and looking lovely!

Bridesmaid goody bag.

Alternative bag for my youngest bridesmaid.

Pimms labels ready and waiting to be added to jam jars.

Pimms final result (I always say ‘Chin’ instead of ‘Cheers’)

Our heart bunting.

Our hearts bunting hanging proudly in the marquee!

Our beautiful picnic boxes full of Pandora’s Kitchen goodies!

The covers for our picnic boxes which never quite made it.

Favour for the ladies; three illustrated recipe cards from the heart of my Mum’s kitchen.